Koos van den Hout responded:
Well, yes, but I think that statement needs clarification.
Under US law, the royalties that a 'broadcaster' (i.e., the licensee of a radio or television broadcast station) must pay depend on how the signal is distributed:
- For signals transmitted OVER THE AIR, royalties are indeed "set by contract between artist and user" (as Lisa suggests), subject to "Law, contracts, [and court] rulings" (as Koos asserts).
- For signals streamed OVER THE INTERNET, royalties are set by the Copyright Royalty Board.
Lisa:
Koos:
Sound exchange is an organization that represents artists and record labels. It does not determine royalty fees; the CRB determines them.
Sound exchange is simply a voice (a loud one, to be sure) among the sea of voices clamoring for favorable decisions by the CRB.
From its website:
SoundExchange is a non-profit organization representing more than 20,000 artists, 2,500 independent record labels and the four major record companies for the collection and distribution of digital performance royalties for recording artists and sound recording copyright owners (usually a record label) when their sound recordings are performed on Internet radio, satellite radio and digital cable.